Month: February 2010

Time Machine

Now let’s go back in time so I can catch up on this here thang. I’ve just been working all the time, and going to Spanish class up until that day I got drenched and the teacher didn’t show up. My advisor has come to town, as I mentioned, and that greatly increases my workload. In addition to the time-consuming lesson-planning and research, I have to write evaluations and reports about things I’m learning and […]

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The Face of Evil

Two posts in one day. Guess I write when I’m miserable. This is the next chapter of The Fruit Incident, just posted, in which I sliced mold off my papaya and disposed of it. Well, I thought I’d heard the end of it, but no. I was working all day upstairs until the witch screeched up to tell me to come downstairs for comida. I wasn’t sure of her Spanish so I asked, Ahorra? Now? […]

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The Crow

I descend the cold tile stairway in my nightgown, blinking myself awake. I cross the cold tile floor, wrapping my shawl more tightly around me. I walk toward the”¦ —“VENGAAAAA.” I hear the ear-splitting cry of the beady-eyed crow, Reyna, the housekeeper. It is too early to be dealing with her impenetrable Spanish and her disdain for me. “Get over here,” she yells. “Hang your laundry out back. Don’t put it here on the sofa!” […]

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When You Say That, Smile

The housekeeper has it in for me. She complains about which cup I use for what (it’s the small, orange, plastic one for brushing teeth). She won’t let me use purified water for tea or tooth-brushing (so I sneak downstairs at night and get it when she’s asleep). And the other day she told Magdalena that I’m floja. She thought I didn’t know what it means, but I do: “lazy.” Loca, I could accept, but […]

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